Here are some pics of the most common means of public transportation in Vienna, the tram. There are about 30 lines all over Vienna.

This is a type E1 car used on many lines, the oldest type still in service. The picture is taken in suburban Vienna.

This is a more recent E2 car in a very Viennese street.

And now the newest Ultra Low Floor (ULF) car.

Most lines are numbered, some have letters (as far as I remember D, J, N, O). Buses have a number followed by the letter A or B, A stands for municipial lines, B for private. Then we have 5 subway lines U1 to U6, U5 having been left out somewhere during the planning stage.As far as I know all these vehicles operate on 750VDC, the buses are both Diesel and propane (I think).

I notice that the system uses pantograph power pickups. Most, if not all, of the old tram (streetcar) systems in England (all but a couple of which were torn out many years ago) used trailing arm pick-ups running at 500V DC.

We also had what were called "trolley buses," running on normal rubber tires and using two trailing-arm pick-ups from overhead lines.

The lack of tracks and steerable wheels meant that they were a little more maneuverable in the heavy traffic, but of course they couldn't go too far off course otherwise they'd be left stranded without power!

Trolley buses wre used in Vienna in the early 20th century on the lines that were too steep for trams. Salzburg still uses them, but they're not too reliable, I was told that they frequently jump off the wires and are indeed stranded without power.The colors of the first picture are not too great, originally the red was the same as on the other 2 pics.In the background of the first pic on the far left you can see a phone box.

Trams seem to become increasingly popular. Paris once boasted that it was the first large city without trams(!) Now it just like many other european cities boast modern and comfortable trams.

Closer to home: My town, Stockholm, has a patchwork or rail-based means of transport. Ranging from scary old junk are neither tram nor train to new comfortable trams and underground trains.

The agency running them is cash struck, so it has been round Europe trying to find more junk. On the line where I live, we know have three different Swedish local trains, old Danish wagons pulled by locomotives from a freight company, some German trains from the Olympics in Munich 1972 and even a set of railcars out of the museum!

I'm no train buff but I just have to add some pictures:

The rail layout look like this. Each colour is a different line and vehicle type, except the three undground lines (red, green, blue)

Ragnar, if they left out a whole line, do you also have stations that have notably been left out? In Stockholm, one station in the middle of a line was built but never opened. (The planners cancelled the residential area it was intended to serve.) On the "map" of the lines the otherwise equally spaced stations leave a gap where it should have been.

Nothing that I know of. Only thing that comes to my mind is the Imperial Station, a station built for the emperor that was never used. Yes, and one big tram station was never finished. It was built for several tram lines passing the old downtown area underground, but this underground passage was never built. The station is now terminus of no less than 7 tram lines (37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44).U1 is one of the more recent lines, being mostly underground. Highest suicide rate. U2 is an extended underground tram line and pretty useless. U3 is again a newly planned line. U4 and U6 used to be urban train lines until 1976 (U4) and 1989 (U6), U4 underground and in galleries along the Vienna river and the U6, probably the most beautiful line, mostly on bridges up above the streets, all the bridges and stations have been designed by Otto Wagner, a very famous architect in the 1890ies and the early 20th century.

And then we still have a few real urban train lines, the elevated train or "Schnellbahn". They belong to the Austrian Railways and use real train cars instead of tram cars. Very very comfortable, but you have to deal with 15 min intervals instead of 2.5-10 minutes on other lines.In spite of the efforts of many politicians Vienna still has a very effective public transportation system.

Ragnar, if they left out a whole line, do you also have stations that have notably been left out? In Stockholm, one station in the middle of a line was built but never opened. (The planners cancelled the residential area it was intended to serve.) On the "map" of the lines the otherwise equally spaced stations leave a gap where it should have been.

Yes, there is a station that has been left out. When the former steam Stadtbahn line "Vorortelinie" (suburb line) was reopened as an electric Schnellbahn line in 1987 the station UnterdÃ¶bling that existed from 1898 to 1961 (though more or less out of service since 1932 when the regular service was cancelled) wasn't rebuilt. You can see where the trench walls go back leaving space for the platforms but there aren't any. (The S45 is mostly routed in an open trench).

Btw, the Vienna tram network is standard gauge (1435mm) and operates on nominal 600V DC, said to be changed to 750V where new construction takes place. The tram cars don't mind the higher voltage, according to the specifications the subway car type T is designed to work on 550 to 900V. The Badnerbahn (mix of tram and railway line to Baden near Vienna) uses the 600V tram catenary inside Vienna, then switches to the 750V U6 network at Schedifkaplatz and after one stop goes up to 900V for the long-distance route to Baden.